The announcement of the return of the Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame last month ended a seven-year wait for pro players and fans of competitive Magic: The Gathering. Many Pro Tour mainstays wondered if the hall would ever come back and if they would have a chance at receiving the honor of a lifetime. Not only is it coming back, but today’s deadline for votes means we are closer than ever to knowing the next round of inductees for the first time in close to a decade.
The Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame honors the game’s best and most influential players of all time, dating back to the first class in 2005. The 48 members include the absolute legends of the game like Kai Budde, Jon Finkel, Gabriel Nassif, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, Shuhei Nakamura, and Luis Scott-Vargas. Reid Duke was the last member inducted in 2019 before the hall went on hiatus, but the class of 2026 will feature at least one, if not more, well-deserving players.
William Jensen, a hall-of-famer himself, gave the first details of the return of the Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame at MagicCon: Amsterdam after the quarterfinals of Pro Tour Marvel Super Heroes. He noted that the criteria for selection shifted from Pro Points, something that hasn’t been used for years, to career top finishes. In addition, a new class will be selected every two years and will be voted on by a committee of 40 specially selected individuals who are closely connected to Magic’s competitive history. The committee consists of:
- Aaron Forsythe
- Anthony Lee
- Arne Huschenbeth
- Autumn Burchett
- Blake Rasmussen
- Brian David-Marshall
- Brian Kibler
- Carlos Romao
- Carmen Klomparens
- Cedric Phillips
- Corbin Hosler
- David Humpherys
- Frank Karsten
- Gabriel Nassif
- Greg Collins
- Jon Finkel
- Lee Shi Tian
- Luis Scott-Vargas
- Maria Bartholdi
- Mark Rosewater
- Marshall Sutcliffe
- Martin Juza
- Masahide Moriyama
- Meghan Wolff
- Mike Turian
- Paul Cheon
- Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
- Raphael Levy
- Rashad Miller
- Reid Duke
- Rich Hagon
- Riley Knight
- Scott Larabee
- Seth Manfield
- Shota Yasooka
- Shuhei Nakamura
- Simon Nielsen
- Tomohiko Ishikawa
- William Jensen
- Willy Edel
The committee had a few weeks following the conclusion of Pro Tour Marvel Super Heroes to consider and cast their votes, with a ballot consisting of up to four players. The players they could pick from had to have at least five top finishes and have one come before 2019 and one after 2020. Those players are:
- Marcio Carvalho
- Javier Dominguez
- Ken Yukuhiro
- Jean-Emmanuel Depraz
- Ondřej Stráský
- Andrea Mengucci
- Jan-Moritz Merkel
- Brad Nelson
- Samuel Pardee
- Andrew Cuneo
- Yuuki Ichikawa
- Yuta Takahashi
- Akira Asahara
- Matthew Nass
- Logan Nettles
- Eduardo Sajgalik
- Shahar Shenhar
- Michael Sigrist
While the final vote tallies will be made public, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) stated that full ballots will not be published. But that hasn’t stopped members of the voting committee from posting their ballots on social media, with many posts going up today — the deadline for votes. The announcement of the selected players will be “before the end of summer,” but we don’t know exactly when that date will be. We can, however, look at ballots on X or Facebook to start getting an idea of who will be in the next class.
The only player who has appeared on every public ballot is Javier Dominguez, the two-time World Champion with a total of 11 top finishes. Ken Yukuhiro, the Pro Tour Final Fantasy champion with nine top finishes, is the next most-popular name — showing up on every public ballot but one. From there, Jean-Emmanuel Depraz, Sam Pardee, and Brad Nelson look to be the other players with the most votes thus far.
In order to make the hall of fame, a player needs to show up on at least 60 percent of returned ballots. If no player reaches that threshold, the player with the most votes will get in. But with how the ballots are looking, Dominguez will almost certainly make it on the percentage vote, leaving the only question to be will anyone else make the cut?
The induction ceremony for the Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame class of 2026 will take place at Magic World Championship 32 at MagicCon: Atlanta in November.
Read the official announcement on the return of the Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame from WotC.
